Hello all. I registered on this site because I'm thinking about joining the Army National Guard. I was thinking about just going into infantry. I'm almost ready to go to MEPS, according to the recruiter. I have a question though. How much weight do I have to carry in my pack every day? 35 lbs, or 50 lbs? Is there anything else you think I should know? Thanks!

More like 150!

And ask your drill sergeant as many questions as you can think of.

Your only question is how much your ruck will weigh?

You might want to do some more research......

Looking at all the pics of obese NG deployed in DC, I'd say the more ruck weight the better. It's a disgrace.

You only wear them at certain parts of basic and AIT (there was a 10-12 mile march towards the end), otherwise it's just plate + carrier + helmet. You'll get used to it.

You need to know that the Army National Guard is “ARNG.”  The Air National Guard is “ANG.”

And you are way better off going ANG.  


<——-   former ARNG and USMCR

Clean sheets, hot food, no rucks if you avoid doing stuff like combat air controller and para reacue.   A nice cushy office job.   I wouldn’t want to be a wrench turner in the AF either.  my nieces husband was an admin office dweeb on active duty.   He used to bitch about four week deployments.


My dumbass jobs.....machine gunner, mortarman, military police, and a short stint as an MI analyst when the unit got reflagged as MI.  Thats when I ETS’d.


My dad was admin in the Marine Air wing.  He told me to go admin or something with a trade skill.   I should have listened but I wanted to shoot.

Why NG and not active?

Was in the ARNG 40 plus years. 20 years a full time mechanic in an OM shop. Enjoyed every minute. Met the salt of the earth and some that were not worthy of salt. Was in 5 major commands and 5 different companies and batteries.
Mech INF
8 inch gun
Maint.
Signal
Avaiation
My advice is to ask if they have any field equipment. If they say yes run like Hell. Join the ANG-much better deal.

Go guard first. If you like the military it is easy to go active but if you don't like it you cant go guard once you are in the actives.

Edit: Cant go guard until your enlistment is over.

Thank you. This is information overload for me. 150 lbs? That has to be an exaggeration. I weigh 150. Carrying anything over 35 lbs more than a few hours a day would be aggravating for me. Maybe I should join the Air Force Guard instead.

I wouldn't say it's "easy" to go Active from NG since it requires a DD 368 and 4187, and the command can wipe their ass with those while maintaining alpha levels of eye contact. They just paid for training, so why would they lose that budget money and a newly trained soldier? Or, command might not care and be ok with it. Hard to say, but I would never say it's "easy" since the process is ultimately subject to command approval.

Further, it would be dependent on needs of the active component. If they're strong on an MOS's strength, they might require a different MOS training.

If Active draws down, that's even more strain on the approval likelihood.

150 pounds is a light ruck weight. I was infantry and mine was well over 200. Good luck pal!

150 for ruck weight is an exaggeration, but the total load before ruck (body armor, mags/ammo, water, weapon, radio, helmet, full uniform, etc.) can easily approach 45-60 pounds. Add a 60 pound ruck and you are easily at a total load of 120lbs. My first tour I lost a ton of weight just from walking in basic load. It wasn't a diet and exercise thing, either. I just simply was burning more calories than I put in, which is impressive considering I ate like total shit. I came home from that tour and was able to fit in pants I wore in middle school.

There is a reason dudes have bad backs and knees at 30. Add in something like airborne and injury rates and issues over lifetime add up.

My advice? Forget combat arms unless you want to do something within the special operations community. Most of it is just BS with very little fun, stupid details (cleaning), being treated like a child because one dude had an alcohol incident, etc. Unless Joe Xiden gets us into a war, combat arms will be relegated back to pre-9/11 peacetime garrison BS, which is no place for anyone with half an ounce of competence and life experience.

Join whatever, but go for a marketable skill set (either trades, a la welding, plumbing, electrician; medical but NOT medic as non-SOF only get EMT-B which is about as valuable as being head cashier at McDonald's. https://www.operationmilitarykids.org/68-series-mos/) or something like cybersecurity, commo, etc. and a TS clearance.

Then you can use those skills to leverage a civilian job that will pay for what you want to do for hobbies (hiking, shooting, etc.) and provide some real longevity where you aren't behind the curve if/when you get out.

Thank you for the info!

WHY?
ADVICE=DO NOT JOIN!

You should go Air Force instead.

I asked someone who was 11B, which is infantry, and he said they carry a 45-50 lb rucksack in addition to an armor plate carrier, helmet, and rifle. So that would be 60-70 lbs total. That's almost half my body weight. And I'm a short thin person. I don't think I can physically handle it. There are a lot of things in life I would do if I could, but I will have to leave 11B to those who are physically taller and stronger.

How old is the OP, what are his options, what's his motivation for enlisting, and how mature is he in his thinking?

If he's a high-school dropout, dead-ender, the military might be his only path forward.

If he's a patriotic youngster, he might consider that the current administration might have him fighting his countrymen before long or just waste his life on an unnecessary war someplace.

If I were 19 again, in this time-line, I might just go become an electrician instead of enlisting.

How short?

I’ve known several shorter folks who did fine. I’m short as well, but my issues were stress fractures and what I later found out to be exercised induced asthma; made things rough but I still did it. Knew a few guys same height as me (5’5”), who weren’t “buff”, who could out perform against taller, bigger muscles, etc. Knew plenty of bigger guys who simply kept up and were by no means impressive.

Size really doesn’t matter unless you’re a midget.

And they work you up to those weights. It’s not like day 1 you’re strapping on a ruck and doing a 20km walk.

Don’t sell yourself short. I would suggest you start working out with the recruiters. You will find that with a little training you can do more than you thought. Those gains come pretty quick with dedication, proper diet, and good rest.

It will boost your confidence as well, which you obviously lack.

I appreciate your input. I don't think it's a matter of confidence, rather, just the fact that I'm less than average height and weight in the USA. The recruiter weighs 80 lbs more than I do and he looks like a smaller version of Schwarzenegger, and so do his associates.

How short?

Show muscles mean little. Don’t let some dude’s creatine fetish intimidate you.

ETA:

Does this guy look like a badass if you covered up the uniform? Nope. But he’s a veritable badass.

Honestly in my time in service ( granted ended 10 years ago) most SF people I knew were physically speaking unimpressive- don’t get me wrong they were badass, just not the stereotypical muscle bound person in most non military minds. Most were thin almost slightly built , think usain bolt, not Rambo.
In operational terms gear is heavy. I weighed about 190 when I was in, and when they weighed me with my basic gear ( weapons ammo armor helmet a small “overnight bag” and my medical bag I was at 325. This is not a “full ruck  load” just travel from Kuwait to Afghanistan at the time.
And as a general rule with a few exceptions, the Air Force has it much easier. Most people in the air guard end up with a marketable civilian skill more often than army guys

Little buddy this is what I was going to say.

What about these days makes you want to join ANY branch, much less the nat guard??

One leg in civilian world, one in military, and not a good version of either.

If you just want to kick arse and wear green, join the Marines or Army and go all in then get the heck out.

But getting into a civilian career or education then getting jerked out of your real life to go get treated like garbage like the guys in DC did, or go do some bad job overseas while the real infantry gets to do shootie shoot stuff sounds like a terrible idea

Most guardsmen I knew/know were drivers or mechanics in Iraq and AFG. Sucks.

...and you would be a millionaire now if you had.